Dubai Metro Tickets

Dubai Metro tickets must be purchased in the form of a Nol card. No other payment form is possible for the Metro. A Nol card is like a credit card that holds either a balance or a specific season ticket for travelling on a lot of the public transport in Dubai including the Metro, buses and the tram.

dubai metro tickets - silver nol cardThere are different types of Nol card so check out the section on Nol cards for which type of card is best for you. If you want to get a ticket for the Dubai Metro then you can buy Nol cards at all of the metro stations. You can also buy Nol cards at any other public transport stations and customer service centres.

No Cash Payments

You cannot pay by cash or credit card to travel on the Dubai Metro, you need to buy a Nol card. However, you can top your Nol card up using cash or credit card at each of the stations.

The prices for travel on the Dubai Metro, Tram and Buses are as follows:

Ticket Type 1 Zone or <3km 2 zones 2 Zones 3+ Zones
Standard Adult Ticket (Red) 4 dirhams 6 dirhams 8.50 dirhams
Pre-paid Standard Adult Ticket (Silver Nol) 3 dirhams 5 dirhams 7.50 dirhams
Concessionary (Blue Nol Card) 1.50 dirhams 2.50 dirhams 3.75 dirhams
Gold Class (Red Ticket) 8 dirhams 12 dirhams 17 dirhams
Gold Class Pre-Paid 6 dirhams 10 dirhams 15 dirhams

You can work out how many zones you will travel through by checking out the Metro Map. Prices apply to the number of zones and do not take account of the actual zone numbers.

Standard tickets are those purchased by buying a red Nol card so are likely to be those charged to tourists or visitors. Pre-paid means where you have purchased a Silver, Blue or Gold Nol card.

Concessionary Nol cards are available to students, disabled and elderly people on registration and application. Standard Blue Nol cards have benefits including the purchase of season tickets.

Season Tickets

New season ticket passes were introduced with the opening of the Dubai Tram in 2014 and the prices are as follows:

 

Ticket Type 1 Zone 2 Zones All Zones
Annual Silver Class 1,060 dirhams 1,770 dirhams 2,670 dirhams
Quarterly Silver Class 330 dirhams 550 dirhams 830 dirhams
Monthly Silver Class 140 dirhams 230 dirhams 350 dirhams
Weekly Silver Class 50 dirhams 80 dirhams 110 dirhams
Daily Silver Class 20 dirhams
Annual Gold Class 2,120 dirhams 3,540 dirhams 5,340 dirhams
Quarterly Gold Class 660 dirhams 1,100 dirhams 1,660 dirhams
Monthly Gold Class 280 dirhams 460 dirhams 700 dirhams
Weekly Gold Class 100 dirhams 160 dirhams 220 dirhams
Daily Gold Class 40 dirhams

 

Metro One Day Pass or Not?

You should work out how many journeys you are likely to make in one day as a one day pass may be better. The one day pass also includes travel on the Dubai Tram and Dubai buses.

If you do not purchase a one day ticket you can still get charged more than 20 dirhams if you make a lot of journeys as travel is not capped at 20 dirhams unless you buy the one day ticket. You can find out more details about the One Day pass here.

The above tickets can only be purchased on particular Nol cards:

You can get the one day card on a Red ticket. You can get the weekly ticket on a Blue, Silver or Gold Nol card.

You can charge the Red ticket with up to 5 one day tickets – you need to buy each ticket on the day of travel and not in advance and it is only valid up until midnight of the day of purchase.

The remaining season tickets can only be purchased on a Blue Nol Card or a registered Silver or Gold Nol card.  Blue cards require an application form with ID and photo.

Therefore if you are travelling to Dubai as a visitor your only options for a season ticket are the day or weekly passes.

 

464 thoughts on “Dubai Metro Tickets”

  1. Hi we are flying into Dubai and staying at the Hilton Dubai The Walk please can you let me know how many zones that is and what station we get off at ? we will have quite a bit of baggage is there room on the train for baggage ?
    Cheers

    1. Hi David, you will be travelling from zone 5 to zone 2. However, the nearest station is actually a tram station so if you want to get close you will need to change at Dubai Marina metro (Damac). That is still a short (hot) walk to the hotel though and if you have a lot of luggage they may not let it all on the metro (you may only be allowed one bag each, it depends how strict they are feeling on the day).

  2. Good day..i will ride first at al ghubaiba station and will transfer in interchange to dubai mall.Is silver card can be used both green and red line?tnx

  3. Hi
    First of all, thank you for the amazing info 🙂
    Second, could you please help me to work this out?
    I live close to Jebel Ali Metro station. And my new job is at Dubai business village next to the Clock round about (i think it’s called that). Work is 5 days a week.
    I want to park my car at the jebel ali station. Is this allowed? Is there any extra costs for parking my car?
    After that i will take the metro to the nearest metro station to work. What does it called?
    Which plan is best to buy for such journy and how much it would cost for the gold class?
    Also by any chance do you know how long the journy from home station to work station would take?
    Appreciate your help in this. Thanks a lot in advance.

    1. Hi, I don’t believe there is parking at Jebel Ali station – the nearest is Nakheel Harbour and Tower where you can park for free if you use the metro and validate your ticket. Al rigga metro station is nearest the clock tower roundabout. If you are going to use it long term then you could get a monthly, quarterly or annual pass but you will need to apply for a blue Nol card for these tickets.

    1. It really depends on where you want to go and if those places are near a metro station. It can be easier to use the metro unless you know the roads of Dubai as they can be quite tricky to navigate but it may be cheaper to get a rental car with 5 people if you are likely to need to use taxis to get places as well as the metro.

  4. i will be travelling in 1st week on nov for 5n6d with 3 family members (total 4), please advice which type of card are convenient to buy

    1. It really depends how many trips you are going to make each day. if you are going to spend more than 20 dirhams a day on journeys then you should get a daily travel card. Each person will need their own card.

  5. Hello! During 4 days we are going to move by metro to other stations in Dubai (Burj-Khalifa, dubai City center and other) from Deira Metro Station and in the evening come back to Deira Metro Station.
    We 3 adults and 1 child (8 yo).
    Which type of card are convenient to buy?
    Thank you/

    1. If the total cost of the journeys that you are going to make each day is more than 20 dirhams then you should buy a day ticket on the day you travel. Each of you will need their own ticket.

    1. A 2 zone journey is 5 dirhams (silver), so if you do this twice a day then there is no point getting a daily card costing 20 dirhams. You just need to work out how many journeys you do and how much that will cost you.

  6. Good afternoon.
    How much will the fare from the station Al Nahda station is the Burj Khalifa for a silver card?
    How much will the fare from the station Al Nahda station and Dubai Marina silver card?

    1. Perhaps I need to change the wording. There are concessionary fares that are available to specific blue Nol card holders but you can also get standard fares on the personalised blue Nol card.

  7. Hi
    I am coming to Dubai with my family as a tourist for 4 days. What is the best mode available for my use? My kids are 2 years old (Twins), so need to purchase the ticket for them?

    1. Not sure what you mean by best mode? The ticket you buy depends on how many trips you intend to make each day. No, you do not need to buy tickets for the 2 year olds.

  8. We (3 adults, one 8 year child and one 4 year old) are visiting Dubai for the first time in 1 week’s time. We intend to travel mostly by metro, tram and bus sightseeing across multiple zones over the period of our 4-day stay. From the information gathered, please confirm the following;

    1. We require to only purchase a daily ticket on a silver Nol card at 20 dirhams per ticket.
    2. The daily silver class ticket affords us unlimited trips on any of the three modes of transport and across multiple zones.
    3. Once we are done with the 1st day’s travelling, we need to purchase another day pass for the 2nd day’s travels. Do I need to wait for the 2nd day to purchase the day pass or I can purchase it on the 1st day?

    1. 1. Yes you will need to purchase 4 daily tickets (one for each person apart from the 4 year old who goes free) each day.
      2. Yes
      3. You need to purchase the passes on the day you use them.

  9. Is it available a one way season ticket, because i am travelling one way only daily and coming back via my company car.

    1. It doesn’t matter which direction you travel, the season tickets are valid for unlimited travel for whatever period you purchase so if it is cheaper to buy a season ticket then do that, otherwise just buy singles.

  10. Correctly I understood, the gold card costs 25 dirhams. On it 19 dirhams for journey. The maximum write-off on day 14 dirhams? And if I exceed 14 dirhams in a day, then on this day the rest of the trip will be free of charge?

    1. No, there is no maximum write off. If you think you will exceed 20 dirhams (silver class) or 40 dirhams (gold class) you need to buy a day ticket in advance. Otherwise you will be charged for all journeys that you make.

  11. How much is a gold card? Does she have the right day to make an unlimited number of trips?
    How much is a silver card? Does she have the right day to make an unlimited number of trips?

  12. Good afternoon.
    Plan to visit Dubai for a week. I will move around the city every day. Which card is more economical to purchase? The ticket one day or silver?

    1. Yuo need to work out how many trips you are going to make over which zones and if that is going to add up to more than the cost of a day ticket then buy the day ticket 🙂

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